The Trump Presidency, Season 2

[Innula Zenovka]

Military Says It Will ‘Continuously’ Monitor Bathrooms to Comply With Anti-Trans Order

Pete Hegseth’s Department of Defense sent the White House an 11-page memo about the steps it has taken to comply with Donald Trump’s anti-trans executive order, according to a copy of the memo obtained by 404 Media using the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Among dozens of other actions, the Pentagon said that it not only changed the signs on bathroom doors to “reflect biological sex” but that it will continue to “monitor intimate spaces to ensure ongoing compliance” and that it will “continuously evaluate and update intimate spaces as necessary.”

The military also ordered a “review hold on questionable content” at Stars and Stripes, the military’s newspaper, which is supposed to be editorially independent from the Pentagon and which is not supposed to be censored by the Department of Defense.

 

[Beebo Brink]

 

[GoblinCampFollower]

...also, parody has always bee understood to be protected speech. He'd need help from corrupt judges he appointed to have any grounds to sue.

 

[Katheryne Helendale]

Military Says It Will ‘Continuously’ Monitor Bathrooms to Comply With Anti-Trans Order

How the hell do they plan to "monitor for compliance"???

God, I'm so glad im not active duty anymore!

 

[Innula Zenovka]

How the hell do they plan to "monitor for compliance"???

God, I'm so glad im not active duty anymore!

I hope it simply means they'll monitor people from outside the bathroom as they enter and leave, but who knows what they're planning?

 

[Katheryne Helendale]

I hope it simply means they'll monitor people from outside the bathroom as they enter and leave, but who knows what they're planning?

Even so, is anyone needing to go to the bathroom going to have to drop trau and prove they are women before being allowed to enter the women's room?

If I were still in, I'd probably start using the men's room out of spite, because you know damn well there won't be similar "monitoring" there!

 

[Innula Zenovka]

You'd know better than do I how it works, but presumably it's reasonably simple to identify all members of the crew (don't they have name tapes on their uniforms and overalls?) and then to check their records if necessary. That is, even if you don't recognise their face, you can see what their name is, and then, if you're in any doubt, check their personnel file to see whether they're entering the appropriate bathroom.

 

[GoblinCampFollower]

On that note... the military still has a gigantic sexual assault problem from "normal" cishet men. They won't do much about that... but they will at least volunteer to go after the queers to protect women!

 

[Katheryne Helendale]

You'd know better than do I how it works, but presumably it's reasonably simple to identify all members of the crew (don't they have name tapes on their uniforms and overalls?) and then to check their records if necessary. That is, even if you don't recognise their face, you can see what their name is, and then, if you're in any doubt, check their personnel file to see whether they're entering the appropriate bathroom.

That's a valid point. Instead of submitting to an inspection each time, we'd only have to do it once, then simply have to stand by and be checked off a list each time we have to pee. Still intrusive as hell, though.

Another thought occurred to me. According to a directive from Hegseth, transgender members are being discharged anyways, so I'm not seeing the point of all of this. It seems like more political theater, and transgender people and women are paying the price. And for what?

 

[Innula Zenovka]

That's a valid point. Instead of submitting to an inspection each time, we'd only have to do it once, then simply have to stand by and be checked off a list each time we have to pee. Still intrusive as hell, though.

Another thought occurred to me. According to a directive from Hegseth, transgender members are being discharged anyways, so I'm not seeing the point of all of this. It seems like more political theater, and transgender people and women are paying the price. And for what?

Wouldn't the relevant details have been recorded as part of a routine medical inspection at some point?

I think it's more than political theatre in that the US government seems determined to deny the right of trans men and women to exist at all in both the workplace and all other shared public spaces, and part of this involves forcing trans men and women to out themselves every time they use a bathroom at work.

But, as you say, since all trans service personnel are being discharged anyway, this particular measure does seem a bit pointless.

 

[Veritable Quandry]

Contractors, visitors, family. Bases are not just service members.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Trump’s order to make chatbots anti-woke is unconstitutional, senator says

Trump plans to use chatbots to eliminate dissent, senator alleged.

arstechnica.com

 

[Free]

Trump’s order to make chatbots anti-woke is unconstitutional, senator says

Trump plans to use chatbots to eliminate dissent, senator alleged.

arstechnica.com

/me laughs in Constitutional toilet paper

 

[Katheryne Helendale]

Wouldn't the relevant details have been recorded as part of a routine medical inspection at some point?

Yes, but "continual monitoring" seems to imply that there'd need to be a gatekeeper stationed at the entrance to each restroom to "make sure" no trans person tries to use the "wrong" restroom.

Contractors, visitors, family. Bases are not just service members.

This. There is a large civilian workforce working alongside uniformed servicemembers, though they would likely face the same restrictions and receive the same pre-screening. Still, there are also a lot of civilian family members accessing base facilities like the base exchanges, commissaries, and other recreational facilities, and they have bathrooms too...

 

[Free]

Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com)

REPORTER: Do you maintain that you did not write a letter for Jeffrey Epstein's birthday? TRUMP: Somebody could've written a letter and used my name

bsky.app

Hey, maybe it was Obama?

 

[Free]

Skydance deal allows Trump’s FCC to “censor speech” and “silence dissent” on CBS

FCC now has “never-before-seen controls” over a newsroom, commissioner warns.

arstechnica.com

The Federal Communications Commission has approved Skydance's $8 billion acquisition of Paramount, which owns CBS.

But the agency's approval drew fiery dissent from the only Democratic commissioner, Anna Gomez, after requiring written commitments from Skydance that allow the government to influence editorial decisions at CBS. Gomez accused the FCC of "imposing never-before-seen controls over newsroom decisions and editorial judgment, in direct violation of the First Amendment and the law."

Under the agreement, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr explained that Skydance has given assurances that all of the new company’s programming will embody "a diversity of viewpoints from across the political and ideological spectrum." Carr claimed that the requirements were necessary to restore Americans' trust in mainstream media, backing conservatives' claims that media is biased against Trump and appointing an ombudsman for two years to ensure that CBS's reporting "will be fair, unbiased, and fact-based." Any complaints of bias that the ombudsman receives will be reviewed by the president of New Paramount, the FCC confirmed.

"a diversity of viewpoints from across the political and ideological spectrum"

Isn't that a pretty good definition of DEI? In any case, the centralization of media under the government is continuing.

 

[Katheryne Helendale]

appointing an ombudsman for two years to ensure that CBS's reporting "will be fair, unbiased, and fact-based."

Nothing that comes out of the Trump administration is fair, unbiased, and fact-based. George Orwell was 41 years early in his prediction.

 

[Cindy Claveau]

The Whataboutism has bren institutionalized:

House panel votes to subpoena Bill and Hillary Clinton in connection with Jeffrey Epstein files

 

[Cindy Claveau]

 

[Ellie]

What resonates for me is Cipolla’s observation that in societies doing poorly, “The stupid members of the society are allowed by the other members to become more active and take more actions.” This affords the stupid contingent much more sway.

“A stupid person is the most dangerous person.”

Makes me think of a beloved family member who is very gifted in a number of fields but would for sure doom us all during a zombie attack. No common sense at all.